October 30, 2013

1994 Vancouver Canucks: Shooting Down The Stars

The Canucks faced the Dallas Stars in round 2 of the playoffs. Vancouver would once again start on the road in Dallas. The first game went to Vancouver on the basis of a 6-4 victory.

Two days later Kirk McLean registered his 2nd shutout of the post season en route to a 3-0 victory. That game will be forever remembered for a vicious elbow delivered by the Canucks superstar Pavel Bure on Dallas tough guy Shane Churla. The elbow, which would draw a fine from the league, perhaps sent a message to the rest of the NHL - Don't mess with Pavel, he can and will take care of himself! The hit also marked the beginning of Don Cherry's "Bure's a weasel" campaign on Hockey Night in Canada. Lost in the mayhem of the controversy was the fact that Bure scored 2 of the 3 goals in the game and probably played his best playoff game up to that point.

The two teams would return to Vancouver for the next 3 games. Dallas would crawl back into the series with a 4-3 victory in game 3. But the Canucks responded in game 4 with a 2-1 overtime victory. With the Stars on the ropes, the Canucks headed into game 5 determined to capture the series victory and avoid having to return to Dallas for a game 6. In an workmanlike effort, the Canucks played perfect defensive playoff hockey to win 4-2, and secure a berth into round three with a 4-1 series victory over the Dallas Stars.

Vancouver would have to wait to see who their next opponent would be. A pesky San Jose team took the Toronto Maple Leafs to a full 7 games before finally bowing out. That would set up an all Canadian showdown between the rested Canucks and weary Leafs. The winner would have a chance to compete for the Stanley Cup!

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